Growth of Solar Energy Use: The Sun is Much Friendlier than Oil

The growth of solar energy use around the world should not be a major surprise. With the environmental dangers at an all time high, especially with the ozone layer, global warming, and desertification, it makes sense to invest heavily in sources of power that do not damage and/or alter the environments we live in. From 2006 to 2007 alone the world wide production of electricity from solar energy increased by nearly 67%.

While it's easy to see the shift going on in industrial nations such as the United States, especially as environmental awareness increases, what surprises a lot of people is that the majority of this demand and output actually comes from poorer third world nations. If you think about it, this is very practical.

There's no way a country like say Ethiopia or Paraguay could compete with the U.S. economically for oil, gasoline, or even coal, but what about the sun? The sun is there for everyone, and poorer nations who can switch most or all of their power to natural power can help jumpstart their economy and keep prices low so even lower class citizens can enjoy the benefits of power.

Solar energy supply is up in the United States by 57%, but even though those numbers are encouraging, there is still a long way to go. Solar power and specifically the technology behind solar power, is evolving at an ever faster rate. Solar power isn't a pipe dream anymore, but a legitimate source of power for thousands of homes, businesses, and even cities. Unfortunately, solar power only provides an estimated .01% of the world's total energy demands.

Still, the ever growing number of companies specializing in solar power, and the continued increase in demand is sure to keep solar power expanding. The sun can't be used up the way that fossil fuels and other forms of energy can be. This means that as oil, coal, wood, gas, and other natural resources continue to be used up, solar power is going to continue to be in demand.

In addition to this, the ever increasing technologies that are making solar power more and more efficient, it's only a matter of time until solar energy surges to take its rightful share of the market.